The Government will defy “grief and hassle” from its own backbenchers and fast-track plans for a new high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, the Transport Secretary has told The Independent.

Patrick McLoughlin dismissed suggestions that the Department for Transport’s financial modelling errors behind last week’s West Coast Main Line debacle would undermine High Speed Two. The project had the unequivocal backing of both David Cameron and the Chancellor, George Osborne, he added.

A report on the impact of the HS2 high speed railway misses out Warrington Bank Quay on the list of stations which a West Cost Mainline train will call at if the new rail network linking London and the West Midlands first is built. …

RESIDENTS on the front-line of the high speed rail development still have no clue about what compensation they’re entitled to….

Meriden MP, Caroline Spelman, added: “It can be difficult for residents in this position. When I started in this constituency [in 1997], there were still people trying to get compensation because they’d been affected by the building of the M42.”